Berlim | Neues Museum | Friedrich Stueler + David Chipperfield

[JVS]

Berlin's restored neoclassical Neues Museum's $250 million, 10-year facelift follows decades of neglect under communism and bomb damage from World War II.

The 20,500-square metres of exhibition space has been reworked, with modern design replacing parts of the interior, which will again house antiquities including a bust of ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti.

Modernist British architect David Chipperfield said he had wanted to keep as much of the old interior as possible.

"You can't build something again. We wanted to keep what was still there and survived all these years and hold on to the original material," he told Reuters Television.

Many consider the museum one of Germany's architectural masterpieces. Built by Prussian architect Friedrich Stueler in 1843, the building gained Unesco World Heritage site status in 2000 and opens for its first exhibition on October 16.

in http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090313/world-news/war-scarred-berlin-museum-shows-off-10-year-makeover


British architect makes war-damaged Berlin's cultural heart whole again

After 60 years of neglect, the Neues Museum is 'woken from its slumber'

It took more than six decades of deliberation and 11 years of painstaking reconstruction but yesterday the last remaining piece in Berlin's neoclassical Museum Island was finally back in place.

A €200m (£178m) project led by British architect David Chipperfield to restore the Neues Museum to its former glory has been hailed as the final building block in the rehabilitation of the historical heart of the city almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall.

Chipperfield, who handed over the keys of the museum to cultural officials yesterday, was saluted in the German press as the most talked about architect of the moment and praised by one critic for having "woken the building from a deep slumber". The quietly spoken 56-year-old Londoner, visibly moved by the moment, summed up his achievement as "trying to pull the remains out of memory and time".

The challenge he faced epitomised the complex task that has confronted the city on countless occasions since it was left as rubble in 1945: how to restore a city haunted by its ruins for decades and divided by the Berlin wall for 30 years. Historians and town planners have agonised over what to do with war ruins such as the Reichstag and the shell of the Gedächtniskirche.

Chipperfield said he saw his job as trying to combine the new and the old into a new whole, whose modern elements were not allowed to "steal the show" from the 19th century original.

"The dominant idea was to hold on to the original material, the remnants from the war damage and the 60 years following," he said. "The real bricks and plaster, the surfaces, the rooms, the real fundament of what survived - that's what we wanted to hold."

The result is a building in which every surface and detail has been considered, in which traces of old colour and raw brick are combined with slim pillars and glass roofs that seem to defy the laws of physics.

He incorporated original elements of the war-damaged building such as plinths, frescoes and pedestals that survived bombing, artillery fire and decades of wind and rain, with modern features including handmade bricks, concrete, white cement mixed with marble chips, and opaque glass. He said the work had been "incredibly complex", and "intellectual and emotional".

The Neues Museum's most elegant feature is Chipperfield's central staircase, a sweeping marble and concrete form that hints at the burnt-out original but is stripped bare of its ornamentation.

The public now has three days to enjoy the empty shell of the new building before it is closed again to allow the exhibits - which were last on display in the museum 70 years ago before being evacuated at the start of the war - to be replaced.

They include Berlin's Egyptian collection, the star attraction of which will be the 3,400-year-old one-eyed, long-necked bust of Queen Nefertiti, who will take her place on a pedestal in the north cupola overlooking a long gallery.

After the war, the East German authorities did their best to repair the badly scarred complex, which now enjoys Unesco heritage status, but never found the funds to restore the Neues Museum. An emergency roof was not added until 1986.

"This ruin was in a way forgotten by history. When we arrived in the 1990s, we were holding fragments of a building that had been untouched for 60 years," Chipperfield said ahead of the opening ceremony.

His ideas were not without controversy, with some critics accusing him of wanting to preserve war ruins rather than honouring the original design by Friedrich August Stüler, which was completed in 1859.

But in repeated interviews he has expressed his delight at being involved in the vigorous intellectual discourse the project inspired, which he hinted was much more robust than anything he had experienced in Britain.

"We didn't agree on everything, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way," he said. "Germans do like to discuss things a lot. But as architects we always complain that normal people are not interested enough in architecture, so I got my justice here."

Seared sites

Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church

The church was destroyed during a bombing raid in 1943. The surviving belfry was nicknamed the "hollow tooth". Between 1951 and 1961 a new church designed by Egon Eiermann was built next to the site. It is one of Germany's most important war memorials.

The Reichstag

The home of the Bundestag was destroyed by fire in 1933 and reconstructed in 1999 at a cost of around $400m by British architect Sir Norman Foster, who gutted it and placed a huge glass cupola on top in a nod to the original 1894 dome.

The last residence of Kaiser Wilhelm II

Largely destroyed by second world war bombing before East German authorities razed it and replaced it with a People's Palace, it is to be reconstructed in all its Prussian glory at a cost of more than €550m (£490m) by Italian architect Francesco Stella. Work is due to start in 2010.

Kate Connolly

in http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/06/germany-architecture-neues-museum

Com fim de reforma, Ilha dos Museus de Berlim fica completa


Gisele Lobato

O Neues Museu, na Alemanha, foi reformado por David Chipperfield


No último fim de semana, alemães viraram turistas em sua própria capital. Após sete décadas exibindo apenas cicatrizes de destruição, foi aberto à visitação o Novo Museu (Neues Museum), em Berlim. Mais de 10 mil pessoas enfrentaram bravamente o frio da sexta-feira para visitar o edifício, originalmente inaugurado em 1859 e pertencente ao complexo cultural da Ilha dos Museus.

Às vésperas da Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945), os cinco museus da ilha foram fechados e, com os bombardeios, cerca de 70% dos prédios, destruídos. Desde então, nunca mais todos estiveram abertos ao público ao mesmo tempo.

Os trabalhos de restauração começaram principalmente após a queda do Muro de Berlim. Depois da virada do milênio, foram entregues a Antiga Galeria Nacional (Alte Nationalgalerie), em 2001, e o Museu Bode (Bode-Museum), em 2006. O Novo Museu era a peça que faltava para completar o conjunto de edifícios neoclássicos, considerado Patrimônio Cultural da Humanidade.

A maneira como o arquiteto David Chipperfield executou a reforma foi recebida com controvérsia. Em vez de recuperar totalmente as feições originais do prédio, o britânico não quis maquiar as marcas da guerra, optando por releituras. Uma das mais chamativas é a escadaria do saguão de entrada. Chipperfield manteve os tijolos aparentes nas laterais do prédio, mas projetou entre eles uma moderna escada com três vãos.

As filas de visitantes se formaram para visitar um espaço vazio, que ficou aberto somente no último fim de semana. O Novo Museu voltará a funcionar a todo vapor em outubro deste ano, exibindo acervo egípcio e pré-histórico. Entre suas peças famosas, ele trará novamente o busto da rainha Nefertitim, que tem 3.300 anos.

Mesmo com todos os espaços abertos, Berlim ainda não se livrará de seus guindastes. Outros museus, embora funcionando, seguem em reforma, e uma nova galeria está sendo construída. Todos os prédios serão interligados por passagens subterrâneas.

in http://turismo.terra.com.br/interna/0,,OI3626026-EI176,00-Com+fim+de+reforma+Ilha+dos+Museus+de+Berlim+fica+completa.html

Novo Museu era peça que faltava na Ilha dos Museus em Berlim

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Escadaria de entrada do Novo Museu: releitura moderna Com a finalização dos trabalhos de restauração do Novo Museu, conjunto de edifícios da Ilha dos Museus, Patrimônio Cultural da Humanidade no centro de Berlim, recupera o estado que tinha antes da Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Pouco antes da Segunda Guerra Mundial, todos os cinco museus da Ilha dos Museus, no centro de Berlim, haviam sido fechados. Os prédios sofreram uma destruição de até 70% pelos bombardeios. Com o fim da guerra e principalmente após a queda do Muro, os edifícios foram restaurados e reabertos ao público.

Em 2001, foi a vez da Antiga Galeria Nacional (Alte Nationalgalerie) e em 2006, do Museu Bode (Bode-Museum). Com a entrega das chaves do Novo Museu (Neues Museum), nesta quinta-feira (05/03), a Ilha dos Museus recupera sua completude.

A entrega feita pelo próprio ministro alemão de Obras e Planejamento Urbano, Wolfgang Tiefensee, demonstra a importância do evento para a vida cultural alemã. Além de Tiefensee, o ministro alemão da Cultura, Bernd Neumann, e o presidente da Fundação do Patrimônio Cultural Prussiano, Hermann Parzinger, também estiveram presentes.

Neste final de semana, o público terá a oportunidade de visitar o trabalho de restauração executado pelo arquiteto britânico David Chipperfield, nos últimos 10 anos. A partir de outubro deste ano, o Novo Museu abrigará o Museu Egípcio e a Coleção de Papiro, como também o Museu da Pré e Proto-História. O Novo Museu abrigará, entre outros, o famoso busto da rainha Nefertiti, que até outubro próximo estará em exposição no Museu Antigo.

Diretrizes da Carta de Veneza

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Restauração do Novo Museu: o velho ao lado do novoO custo do discutido trabalho de restauração do Novo Museu, construído entre 1843 e 1855 pelo arquiteto Friedrich August Stüler, girou em torno dos 300 milhões euros.

Diferentemente dos outros edifícios até agora restaurados, Chipperfield optou por não reconstruí-lo originalmente segundo o projeto de Stüler. Por deixar visíveis marcas da Segunda Guerra Mundial, alguns críticos chamaram o novo prédio como um "monumento à guerra", segundo informações do próprio arquiteto.

Defendendo seu conceito de restauração, no entanto, Chipperfield afirmou ter se baseado nas diretrizes da Carta de Veneza, que não prevê uma cópia do prédio original, mas considera os diferentes estados de conservação do edifício a ser restaurado. O que sobrou foi preservado em seu contexto espacial. As novas intervenções refletem o que se perdeu, mas sem imitá-lo.

Um das principais intervenções de Chipperfield foi uma moderna releitura da pomposa escadaria projetada por Stüler. Mantendo em tijolo aparente as paredes laterais que sobraram do prédio destruído pela guerra, o arquiteto britânico introduziu uma moderna escadaria de três vãos no saguão de entrada.

Passeio arqueológico subterrâneo

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Fachada do Novo MuseuAs obras, no entanto, ainda vão demorar a terminar na Ilha dos Museus. O Museu de Pérgamo, que abriga o célebre Altar de Pérgamo e a Porta de Ishtar, está sendo restaurado e ampliado em mais uma ala, mas continua aberto ao público. Além disso, um novo prédio de entrada será construído na Ilha dos Museus, a Galeria James Simon, em homenagem ao empresário alemão que financiou as escavações que levaram ao descobrimento do Busto da Nefertiti, no começo do século 20 no Egito.

O Museu Antigo também deverá ser restaurado posteriormente. Segundo o Plano Diretor da Ilha dos Museus, comentou o jornal berlinense Tagesspiegel, todos os prédios deverão ser interligados através de um passeio arqueológico subterrâneo.

Autor: Carlos Albuquerque

Revisão: Roselaine Wandscheer

IN http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4075019,00.html

Berlin museum reborn after WWII damage

By GEIR MOULSON – Mar 5, 2009

BERLIN (AP) — The restored Neues Museum was unveiled Thursday after six years of painstaking work to repair World War II bomb damage that ruined much of the renowned building.

British architect David Chipperfield handed over the empty building's key to city museum officials. The museum is one of five which make up the neoclassical Museum Island, the German capital's best-known cultural complex.

The museum will open in October — housing, as it did before the war, Berlin's Egyptian collection, complete with a famous 3,300-year-old bust of queen Nefertiti. That will mark the first time since 1939 that all the island's five museums have been open to the public.

"The Neues Museum has finally awoken from its coma," Mayor Klaus Wowereit said, describing the handover as "a great day for culture in the whole world."

The euro200 million ($250 million) restoration incorporates the original material that survived wartime bombing and decades of exposure to the weather — including fluted stone columns and faux-Egyptian painted ceilings.

Entire wings were destroyed, including the central staircase. Chipperfield sought to restore their dimensions rather than imitating every detail, using plain concrete and brick in some of the rebuilt parts.

"There's really one dominant idea, which is to hold on to the original material that we were given in 1997," when he won the restoration job, Chipperfield told reporters.

Chipperfield's restoration "is fascinating, convincing and historically honest, because it does not plaster over the dramatic history of this building. It brings old and new together," said Hermann Parzinger, the head of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which oversees Berlin's museums.

Work on the Neues Museum, designed by Friedrich August Stueler, began in 1841. It opened to the public in 1855.

In 1924, the bust of Nefertiti, discovered a decade earlier by German archeologists, went on public view at the museum.

The Neues Museum shut at the beginning of the war in 1939, and its contents were put into storage.

East German authorities patched up the complex's other museums after the war, but the cash-strapped communist country never managed a full restoration of the Neues Museum.

"I think the complexity of the problem was one of the reasons it was left so long," Chipperfield said. "The quantity of damage was very strange, very erratic."

As well as the Egyptian collection, the restored building will house Berlin's Museum of Prehistory and Early History.

The restoration is part of a wider government-funded euro1.2 billion (US$1.51 billion) overhaul of the once-decrepit Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, some of whose facades still bear the marks of wartime bullets.

Two other museums already have been fully restored; work on the next-door Pergamon Museum, one of Berlin's best-known tourist attractions, is expected to last until the mid-2020s.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

in http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixN8b-U4U1h3laLoMbT1jPVMEpbQD96NUAO01


Chipperfield's Berlin Neues Museum (video)

27 February, 2009

Work has completed on David Chipperfield Architects’ dramatic remodelling of the Neues Museum. Take a sneak peak at the renovation work

The 1855 building was designed by Friedrich Stüler to expand the facilities provided by Schinkel’s adjoining Altes Museum.

It originally housed a collection of ethnographic and archaeological holdings but had lain derelict since being bombed in the second world war. Chipperfield and its collaborator, conservation architect Julian Harrap, won the €233 million commission in 1997 after a scheme by Italian architect Giorgio Grassi was dropped.

The building is set to reopen in September, marking the completion of the first phase of Chipperfield’s masterplan to restructure the entire island.

IN http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=426&storycode=3134864&c=2&encCode=000000000191572c

[JVS]

VIDEOS

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"]YouTube - Video des Tages | Das Neue Museum in Berlin[/ame]
[ame="

"]YouTube - Neues Museum Berlin ein erster Blick[/ame]
[ame="

"]YouTube - Schlüsselübergabe für Neues Museum auf Berliner Museumsinsel[/ame]